September 2021
Dear Constituent,
Thank you for contacting me about the fur trade and EDM 193.
While I completely appreciate the strength of your feeling on this matter, I’m afraid that, as a matter of principle and like many other MPs, I do not sign EDMs which have no real parliamentary function and yet are very expensive to administer.
We have a proud history in this country on animal welfare and I am encouraged that as an independent nation we are now able to re-examine some of our animal welfare laws, including the import of fur for use in fashion products.
Fur farming has been banned in England and Wales since 2000. As well as this, there are already restrictions on some skin and fur products which may never be legally imported into the UK. These include fur and products from cats and dogs, and seal skins and products from commercial hunts.
The UK has also established controls on fur from endangered species protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and we do not allow imports of fur from wild animals caught using methods which are non-compliant with international humane trapping standards.
I appreciate that there is considerable support for banning all imports of fur products. It is my understanding that a call for evidence has been carried out to seek views from the public and businesses surrounding animal welfare as well as the social and economic impacts associated with the fur trade. These views, data and case studies received will be vital in helping to inform future government policy in this important area.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.
With best wishes.
Kind regards,
Jonathan Lord MP
Member of Parliament for Woking